


Roomie dinner

by PerriewinkleNerdie



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26411137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerriewinkleNerdie/pseuds/PerriewinkleNerdie
Summary: One week after the incident at the hospital, her friends discuss her relationship with a certain diagnostician.
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)
Kudos: 39





	Roomie dinner

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! How are we doing? I've been a bit busy this week with my internship starting, but I have more time than I anticipated. Add to that the fact that my brain always has good ideas when I don't have the time to write and boom, here we are.   
> Enjoy! <3

Jackie fell into her seat by the table, stretching out a bit. She’s spent the whole day running around the hospital, doing her best to avoid nosy interns that decided that it was their right to know everything that happened in there. Throughout the day, she would have to fight with herself to not berate them the way she’d like to, a tiny voice that sounded suspiciously like Claire ringing in her ear.

_Don’t be rude_

The blonde doctor has spent the last three days slowly getting back to her routine of being a doctor, after her recovery was over. During that time, Jackie hasn’t seen her very often, both with her work and with Claire staying at the hospital for the night. Dr. Hirata insisted on keeping her there for that additional time, just to be sure that all the residual effects would subside, and the threat was gone for good. No one could fault that logic, so no one, not even Claire, the most stubborn one of them all, argued about it.

This night, Sienna insisted on them all having what she’s insisted on calling ‘roomie dinner’, inviting Rafael and Bryce to tag along. They lost so much over the span of last week, and for a moment, it felt like they could lose so much more. At the end of the day, no one was invincible. Thankfully, though, they didn’t have to find out what the world would look like without Claire and Raf, because the latter was already sitting by Jackie’s side, and the former was said to arrive in the next ten minutes.

All her friends were talking among themselves when she asked the question that has been on her mind since the moment she saw the interview on TV.

“So, when was somebody going to tell me that Ramsey and Claire have a thing going on?”

The table fell silent in an instant. Elijah raised an eyebrow, asking her to elaborate silently, Sienna’s eyes widened in what she could describe as alarm, Raf nodded in understanding and Bryce grinned, leaning towards her and putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Believe me, if I knew, I would have told you. Ramsey is my gym bro, but he doesn’t talk much. Well, much about his private affairs, anyway.” He managed to lean away right before she could smack his hand with hers, laughing at her serious expression.

“I’m not sure there’s anything going on.” Sienna worded her answer slowly, thinking through every part of it so she wouldn’t slip up. To tell the truth, she didn’t know the details. All she knew was that both Claire and Ethan had feelings for each other, but she was unaware of any development in the situation.

“You’re lying.” Jackie leaned towards her. “Your lower lip twitches when you lie. But okay, I’ll get it out of you eventually. Raf? Have you noticed anything?”

He took a moment to dig through the heavy fog that surrounded the events of the day they got poisoned, trying to remember anything about Ethan’s behavior towards Claire for that day. Slowly but surely, he managed to fish out a couple of moments. How utterly terrified he was when he saw her in the room. How gentle his touch seemed to be every time he examined her or simply held her hand.

“He was… soft? For the lack of better word?” he answered hesitantly. “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen him do, and I’ve known him for some time now. It was the first time I’ve seen him panic.”

“I _knew_ there was something there.” she mused, catching Sienna’s gaze. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. As though you haven’t seen his behavior for the past week. He barely left her side. I’m pretty sure he used up his vacation days just so he could sit by her bed all day and night.”

“Maybe he’s just worried. Or maybe my hunch is right.” Bryce chimed in, rushing to explain when all his friends turned to look at him. “You should have seen his face when we were all working out with Claire back in the day and she mentioned that she wanted to look good naked. He was so taken by surprise that he _tripped._

“If I remember correctly, we all stumbled.” Raf noted, not buying the idea.

“That’s true, but you and I didn’t get a look of longing in our eyes and our necks didn’t get red from blushing.” Jackie laughed triumphally, patting him on the back. “I’m telling you, Ramsey has it bad for her.”

“I, for one, believe it.” Aurora shrugged, drumming her fingers against the rim of the glass. “They were kinda close even back when we were interns. Something was off after that, but now they seem to be back at it.”

“He said it himself, he’s not single. Claire almost suffocated while trying not to laugh, and you could almost _see_ the effort he put into not looking at her.” taking a sip of water, she leaned back against her chair as she continued. “Not only that, but the past few days have made it evident that something is brewing. Not only is he worried, like us, being her friends, or like June and Baz, being her coworkers. He’s _affectionate_. He has that look in his eyes whenever I see them together. He doesn’t even bother hiding their joined hands.”

As they were all discussing, Sienna tried to think of something to say. She didn’t want to reveal what she knew, as she felt that it wasn’t her place to do so. Claire would tell them herself if and when she wanted to. Elijah looked at her, nodding towards the other three people by the table. She shrugged, turning her head towards the entrance of the restaurant.

“Happy couple is here. We might get some answers.” Bryce grinned, pointing everyone’s attention to two people that just walked in. Claire waved at them shyly, her smile bright, and took a step towards them before she was stopped by a hand pulling her back. She gracefully waltzed into Ethan’s waiting arms, her face lighting up even more, mirroring his entirely. They talked quietly about something, his fingers skimming the rim of the lapel of the jacket she had thrown over her shoulder. Only then did Sienna notice that it was in fact _Ethan’s coat_ she was wearing, not her own, hence why it was so big on her.

He leaned down to whisper something, his lips brushing against her cheek before squeezing her hand and letting her go. She walked towards her friends as Ethan turned to leave when Bryce called out. “Hey, Ramsey! Don’t go! We’re about to order booze and eat ridiculous amounts of food.”

Claire bit down a smirk, looking over her shoulder at him, nuzzling her chin against the soft material of his coat teasingly. His eyes darkened, feeling a challenge in the way she looked at him. Nodding so gently that no one could really tell his head even moved, he made his way over to the table, pulling the chair out for Claire before taking a seat next to her. He could feel stares of people sitting around him, to which his only reaction was a roll of his eyes along with a heavy sigh.

“I’m going to need something strong…” he cursed under his breath, causing Claire to giggle, her hand flying towards her face to conceal it. She couldn’t, however, fool Ethan, who’s hand has already slipped into hers, their fingers tangling.

As the evening progressed, the conversation moved fluently from subject to subject. They all studiously avoided mentioning the horrific situation they found themselves in a few days ago. Bryce talked them through the procedure of Kyra’s surgery, ending just before their food arrived. No one asked about Sora, for which Rafael was quite grateful, instead talking about all the things he wanted to do next.

Claire laughed at Bryce when he tried to steal some fries from Jackie’s plate, and she caught him in the act. She mouthed ‘ _watch and learn_ ’, then waited until Ethan turned away and successfully stole a piece of meat, straight from his fork. Aurora, who for most of the evening remained silent, slowly clapped at her, earning her the attention of the attending. That, in turn, caused him to investigate and come up to the correct conclusion.

“Are you okay, Claire? You’re looking a bit flushed.” He leaned closer when she shook her head, denying that there was anything wrong. “You look guilty. Is it because, perhaps, you stole food right off my fork?”

“Busted!” Bryce exclaimed, mocking her when she smiled, cutting a piece of her steak and passing it to Ethan.

“At least I got caught after the fact, not in the middle of it. Your laughter gave you away.” she pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest. “You never announce your attack. Amateur move, Lahela.”

Ethan looked incredulously at the woman sitting next to him. Guarding himself and his heart from her for most of the time they knew each other made him unaware of just how much he was missing. Now, sitting there, among her friends, seeing how comfortable she was around him, even though no one knew what was going on between them, made him hope for what could be his to have every day. Lightness in his step, easiness of his smile and the woman he wanted for so long, finally in his arms. When she looked back at him and their eyes met, he felt his every rational thought flying out the window.

Sienna pulled their attention towards her when she cleared her throat.

“I’d like to say something.”

When everyone fell silent, she breathed shakily, gathering her thoughts. “I love you all so much. Well…” she hesitated, looking at Ethan, who’s eyebrow shot up in surprise, before laughing. “How about respect for now?” they nodded in agreement, after which he let her continue. “I don’t know how I would survive it all without you all. I’m never going to take you for granted because nothing is forever.”

She made the point to look at Claire and Ethan, very obviously trying to impress upon them the message she was trying to push through. “Life’s too short to question yourself. It’s too short to not say what you feel. It’s too short to not love people.” Her voice cracked at the end, catching Claire’s hand when she offered it to her. “Life’s too short to wait.”

They raised their glasses, reminiscing about all that they’ve lost and all that they’ve gained. After a long moment, Ethan smiled, gripping Claire’s hand tightly as he looked at her. His words were a mere whisper, directed right at her.

“I’m not wasting any more time.”


End file.
